59 



in European courts is generally a man of high rank), appointed 

 inspectors to see them fed, which for a time had the desired effect; 

 the elephants regained their strength, and appeared in good con- 

 dition. Some months afterwards they fell off again; the inspectors 

 were astonished, as they daily saw them fed, examined the mos- 

 saulla, found its ingredients excellent, and the quantity not dimi- 

 nished. The cause, once more discovered, confirms Abul Fazel's 

 account, and evinces the influence the keepers had attained over 

 these extraordinary animals: they taught them to receive the balls 

 with their trunk, and convey them to their mouth in the inspectors' 

 presence, but to abstain from eating them; these docile creatures 

 actually practised that self-denial ; they received the food they 

 were so fond of from their hands, put it into their mouth with their 

 trunk, but never chewed it; the balls remained untouched until 

 the inspectors withdrew, when they took them out, and presented 

 them to the keepers with their trunks, accepting only of such a 

 share as they thought proper to allow them. 



" 'Twixt this and Reason, what a nice barrier? 



" For ever separate, yet for ever near ! 



" Rememlrance and Reflection how ally'd; 



" What thin partitions sense from thought divide! 



Elephants are a common present of honour among the Indian 

 princes and generals; and choice camels, used for expresses, 

 sometimes accompany other gifts at the durbar. The camel is a 

 patient serviceable animal, but deficient in the rational qualities 

 ascribed to the elephant: his diet requires no dainties; the leaves 

 of almost every tree he meets with afford a meal; and from a 

 peculiarity in his internal structure, he carries a reservoir of water, 

 from which he draws a small supply for several days without re- 



